Preparing for the worst

Thursday

Oct 11, 2012 at 3:15 AM

Some 30 years ago, public meetings were held in communities with a proximity to Seabrook, and plans for evacuations in the case of a nuclear emergency were revealed. The citizens of Portsmouth, for instance, were told that, should there be a meltdown at the power plant, their designated host community would be Farmington, which, back then had a reputation for feistiness. It was reported that an insolent section of the Portsmouth crowd shouted that they would rather take their chances with nuclear radiation — but maybe that was an urban myth.Anyway, Farmington’s stock has risen greatly since then, and it has become a vibrant community, albeit feeling the tough economic times, with a beautifully renovated Opera House and a regular parade of interesting events and programs that draw people (quite voluntarily) from surrounding towns.Last week, Farmington Gardeners Roundtable, a group that normally spends its time happily growing vegetables, brought in a speaker they knew as Dr. Tomato, but who came wearing a very different hat, and bearing a more somber message — that of being prepared for and surviving major calamities, such as, ironically, a disaster at the Seabrook plant.Self-sustainability is not survivability, he told the gardeners, who were a minority of the audience. (There was a strong representation from fans of a TV series called Doomsday Preppers.) As reported in our Page 1 story, Dr. Tomato, after laying out his credentials for talking on survival in dire circumstances, noted that 72-hour events, such as blizzards causing widespread power outages, tended to bring out the best in people, as regards helping out neighbors with food and shelter.After 72 hours, though, the milk of human kindness becomes a little scarcer, and should there be a longer-lasting event like the impact of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, things can turn ugly, as those who made no advance preparations try to access the supplies of those who did.Noting that if the resupply chain to supermarkets is severed, food in a region can become markedly depleted in two or three days, Dr. Tomato advised his audience to not only lay in a big stock of supplies, but also to keep this large stash secret, even from visitors and tradesmen.What do you do if the neighbor across the street knocks at your door asking for food, he posed, which drew an impassioned comment from a lady in the audience. She would not care about her neighbors — only her family, she said.This sounds a bit harsh on the face of it, but upon reflection, it is sound common sense in a disaster situation. It doesn’t take a stream of refugees from Portsmouth to wipe out a family’s carefully stored provisions ... desperate people up and down one’s street could do that pretty quickly, too.Survivalists, and there are a lot more out there than the uninitiated might think, take the whole business of long-term disasters preparation seriously, and there are mixed thoughts among that community about the TV series — which has had such unexpectedly good ratings. It is being renewed for a second season.Folks interested in connecting with the real prepper community, rather than linking to the TV fans, should visit www.americanpreppersnetwork.com.With all that is going on in the world, from earthquakes and tsunamis to wars and famines, we’re sure everyone appreciates living in a civilized and (despite the political rhetoric) peaceful society, but it would certainly be beneficial if people got ready for at least a 72-hour disaster.